Rise of the Stanine
by shldflght
Summary: This is the sequel to Lee's Long Day, it takes place one year later during the chuunin exams. With brand new genin and old and stronger friends, Naruto certainly has his work cut out for him. Plus Orochimaru's master plan finally blossoms. Please Review!
1. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

**Rise of the Stanine**

**Chapter 1: A New Beginning**

Uzumaki Naruto was in the forest just outside the village, training, as usual. Ever since he learned from Haruno Sakura that the next chuunin exams were starting soon it was nothing but training, training, and more training, ero-seninn or no ero-seninn. Right now Naruto was trying to improve his Rasengan, the most powerful technique he had at the moment.

"Hey Naruto!" called a familiar voice. Naruto turned toward the sound.

"Oi! Sakura-chan!" he called back, panting a little, but cheerily. She ran up to him and stopped a little bit away, saw him covered in sweat, hesitated, then backed up a bit.

"Are you ready to go see the new genin?" she asked.

"Why would I want to go see some little nose pickers?" he asked turning away with his hands behind his head.

"Oh honestly Naruto," replied Sakura, sighing, "you're impossible. Did you forget? Konohamuru is one of the graduating genin. He told you himself yesterday."

"I didn't forget," said Naruto rudely, "I just don't care. I have serious training to do."

"Serious? You were just standing here!"

"I was in deep concentration."

Sakura frowned and grabbed his ear. "You're coming whether you want to or not!" she said fiercely pulling him back toward the village.

"Ow! Ow! Sakura-chan! Ow! That hurts! Ow!" complained Naruto.

After a long walk the two finally made it to Konoha Academy. Naruto has his hands behind his head looking bored, his ear is very red.

"Okay we're here," said Naruto, "can we leave now?"

Sakura glared over at him, her pupils were completely covered by the whites in her eyes.

"Heh, uh, j-just kidding S-Sakura-chan," Naruto said nervously smiling and putting his hands between her and himself.

Sakura just "Hmph"–ed and turned back toward the Academy. They were announcing the graduating genin.

"Now, I'm proud to announce the next team, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon!" said Iruka as the three new genin stood up, smiling very widely, waving.

"Alright, those three graduated together, and on the same team too, very lucky," said Sakura, smiling.

"I guess," said Naruto absently, "Can I go now?"

"Well, sure," said Sakura, "If you don't want to check out your competition."

Naruto arched an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"Naruto, these are the people that you could be fighting in the chuunin exams! Don't you know that?"

Naruto laughed, "These guys will never even get past the first exam!" said Naruto panting for breath.

"Oh?" said Sakura smiling, "that's what they said about you." Naruto stopped laughing.

"Fine," he sighed, "I'll watch."

Many other names were called, till only nine students were left, only three would make it to genin, the others wouldn't graduate this year. At least, that's what Sakura said.

"And the final team is: Yesa, Iora, and Jamus!" Iruka said finally, applauding. All three stood in the order they had been called. Yesa, a very short kid with jet black hair and very tan skin, stood and smiled so big that Naruto was sure his head grew bigger. Iora, almost the opposite of Yesa, stood at least six feet tall, with blonde hair and very pale skin, yet he smiled just as wide as Yesa. Then finally, Jamus stood. This kid looked to be just as old as Naruto himself, with light brown hair, slightly tanned skin, and looked to be about five foot ten. He looked just like some average kid, with no visible distinct features, but to Naruto and Sakura he stood out more than anyone there. The kid stood and calmly walked away with his team. He didn't even smile! The look on his face suggested that he expected to pass.

Later, Naruto went up to Iruka to find out about this mysterious Jamus.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Hi, Naruto!" replied Iruka, smiling, "What is it?"

"Who was that Jamus kid?"

Iruka looked surprised, "You don't know him? Where have you been?" Naruto was now officially confused.

"I've been out training for the chuunin exams."

"Oh, right the exams," said Iruka smiling again, "I had almost forgotten."

Naruto looked shocked, "How can you forget about the chuunin exams!"

"Sorry Naruto, but its Jamus, he's the one who's been occupying my thoughts lately."

"He must been pretty special to make you forget the exams! I can't wait to fight him."

"Oh he is Naruto. The village's new Uchiha Saskue. Oh, sorry for bringing up a sore subject."

"It's okay sensei," said Naruto sadly. _'Saskue where are you?'_ "Anyway," continued Naruto, back to his old fire, "Is he really that good?"

"That good and better."

Naruto smiled as wide as any of those new genin. "Alright, a new a rival for Uzumaki Naruto to defeat!"

Iruka laughed, "Naruto, trust me, you don't want to fight him. Did you know that he started at the Academy just last week."

Naruto's smile vanished, "What! You mean he passed the Academy in just one week! But it takes a full year to pass!"

"Not if you have his skills." Suddenly Naruto wanted to fight him right here, right now.

"That does it! I'm fighting this guy now!" said Naruto as he ran straight toward the gym, trying to find Jamus.

Iruka chuckled to himself, "That Naruto."


	2. Chapter 2: Tenten's Farewell

**Chapter 2: Ten-ten's Farwell**

While Naruto was out and about being, well Naruto, Neji, Lee, and Ten-ten were training just outside of the village in an open field. Neji was in deep meditation, every part of his body was completely still, not even his hair moved when the wind blew. Ten-ten and Lee were practicing together, Ten-ten was throwing her weapons at Lee, who would dodge or block them. Lee was working extra hard for two reasons. One was that Gaara would be competing in the exams again, and Lee wanted to show him that last time was only a fluke. Two was that Ten-ten's aim was improving and he didn't fancy getting hit with one of the deadly objects she was chucking at him. After several hours of this and some byakugan training with Neji, they decided to rest for the day. Lee was still ready to continue, but stopped when he realized that he had more than just a few scratches thanks to Ten-ten.

The next few days went on like this, though a few times, Neji had to get Sakura because Lee missed a step and was nailed by something sharp. Lee didn't mind much because he was used to pain and it meant that Ten-ten was getting better. If anything Lee was happy.

Soon there was only one week left until the start of the chuunin exams, and the three genin starting training in overdrive, trying to get in as much training as possible. Haste, of course, leads to someone getting hurt.

The training started out normal enough, Neji was practicing his Juken, Lee was dodging and blocking Ten-ten's onslaught of weapons, and Gai was still in the hospital thanks to that no good stanine Jurioh. Then a series of things happened. They happened so fast that the event only took a matter of seconds, yet it would burn in Lee and Neji's memory forever.

First, while Lee was dodging the weapons, Neji yelled out, "Look Out!" he stepped in a hole and fell at the same time that a kunai flew past his ear. Lee immediately rolled to the right as another came speeding toward him. Apparently, all that training with Ten-ten had paid off. He didn't even have a scratch. He looked at the place the kunai was thrown from. The man who had thrown the kunai sped off. Lee was about to follow when he heard a strange sound, a sound he had never heard before in his life. Neji was crying.

Lee turned and opened his mouth to say, "What's wrong Neji?" but once he turned to Neji all words seemed to die in his throat. Neji was with Ten-ten, both were crying, Neji loudly, Ten-ten silently. Ten-ten was laying on the ground with Neji kneeling over her cradling her head in his arms. A single kunai was stuck halfway into her chest, right into her lung. Ten-ten was dying, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Lee's feet seemed to move on their own, straight toward Ten-ten. It was then that he heard they were saying something. He listened closer and picked out the words.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this before," said Ten-ten weakly, "but I-" she smiled slowly; "I love you Neji."

Neji smiled too, though sadness still gripped his eyes. The byakugan was still active. Lee knew Neji was only tormenting himself, watching her fade from existence. "I know," he said softly, so softly that Lee almost missed it, but it was there, just like the tears on Neji's face, on his face. "I love you too," and then they kissed, Lee felt as if he should turn away, but he couldn't, he was too shocked that this was happening to them. They broke the kiss, and Ten-ten let out one final breath. It was over, she was gone.

Lee's tears came freely now. The most unyouthful thing possible had just happened to her. She was murdered, in cold blood. That was unforgivable. Neji screamed up to the heavens, cursing them, raging at the unfairness of it all. It was futile of course, but Lee didn't blame him for a second, nor did he try to stop him. He couldn't if he wanted to. The sad truth was, Ten-ten was dead and nothing he or Neji said or did would ever change that.

Ten-ten's funeral was held the very next day. Everyone wore black and held white roses. Each laid one on Ten-ten's grave one at a time. Some would stay there weeping over the loss of Ten-ten. Ten-ten's family for example stayed so long that Tsunade had to escort them away. No shinobi cried a single tear of course, but with the amount of sadness shown on their face, they might as well have cried rivers. Then it was Lee's turn to lay down his rose.

"I'm sorry Ten-ten," he said shakily.

"Lee it's not your fault," said Tsunade gently, standing beside him.

"But it is Tsunade-sama!" shouted Lee. That kunai was meant for me. I was the target, not Ten-ten!" Lee was sobbing freely now. "If I hadn't been there," he sniffed, "she would still be alive."

"Lee," said Tsunade gently, but firm. "There was no way you or anyone could have seen this coming. It is not your fault."

Lee looked up at her. Her face was stony hard, and yet her eyes showed the tiniest bit of softness. To Ten-ten Tsunade was an idol, Ten-ten wanted to follow in her footsteps and become great. Tsunade had been proud of Ten-ten, for following her dreams. Tsunade must be devastated now.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," said Lee, his lips almost making a smile, but failing. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Tsunade replied, and Lee left. It was now Neji's turn.

At first Lee wasn't sure he could reach Ten-ten's grave. He was staggering and acting dizzy, as if drunk, but he made it. He bore no rose; he simply kneeled at the grave and waited, as if in prayer. No one made a move, and that's when Neji made his.

First, he took off his forehead protector and laid it on Ten-ten's grave. Then he took out a kunai and held it out at arms length, with the point aimed at his chest. Everyone's eyes opened wide, most people gasped. Lee stood stock still, his brain not accepting what his eyes were seeing. No one seemed able to move, except Neji. He brought the knife into his chest, just above his heart. At that moment everyone rushed forward, but Neji stood up and starting spinning. A huge amount of chakra formed a dome around Neji and Ten-ten, forcing everyone back. While still spinning Neji took blood from his new wound and said, "With this blood, the blood of the Hyuuga clan, the blood of Konoha, I swear on blood oath, that-" he stopped spinning, "that I will find your killer and avenge you Ten-ten!" he shouted. Then he smeared the blood on forehead protector.

No one moved, they were shocked at what had just happened. Lee had heard of a blood oath, it was the most powerful oath you could have, to break it would mean village exile or even death. Now Neji held that burden. He seemed, however, calm. He made a hand sign, and shouted, "Byakugan!" immediately his eyes became strained yet focused, veins showed to either side of the corners of his eyes. "I will avenge you Ten-ten," he said quietly, "or spend an eternity in hell. And with that he disappeared into the woods.

The funeral ended quickly afterwards, with the ceremonial lowering of the casket, and Neji's forehead protector. Once Ten-ten's burial was complete, Tsunade called a meeting with the Jounin, with the exception of Gai of course. But Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi were all there. Kakashi was late, as usual, but once he showed up Tsunade officially started the meeting, Shizune right next to her as always.

"Well, you all probably know why we're here," Tsunade said. Her voice seemed full of both sadness and fatigue.

"Am I to assume it's about the chuunin exams?" said Kakashi, looking bored, and sounding it as well.

"Naturally," said Tsunade. "Now the question is, should it continue on as planned, or be delayed?"

"Well, of course it should be delayed," said Kurenai, acting surprised. "A student has just died, and there is no reason to continue through at normal times."

"Actually," said Shizune, "there is one reason." Everyone turned to her, she cleared her throat. "You recall the new Academy student, Jamus, right?" They nodded, "Now you may, or may not know this, but he graduated the academy in one week."

"What?" asked Kurenai, her mouth falling open. Asuma's did the same and he dropped the cigarette he was currently smoking.

"Yes," continued Kakashi, "Iruka recognized that his skills were far too great to not be at least a genin. He even estimated that a full Jounin may have trouble winning."

"That's impossible!" said Kurenai loudly. "There's no way a child can be that strong. He isn't even fully developed yet."

"Exactly!" said Tsunade, taking hold of the conversation once more. "That is what the exams will be for, to test this new genin. To see what he can do. That is what this year's chuunin exams will be all about."

"All right!" said Kurenai, "I'll vote yes to keeping the exams where they are. You've made me curious enough."

"As am I," said Asuma right behind her. "I vote yes."

"I would," said Kakashi, "but I don't have a full team."

"Lee can fill in as your third member since he no longer has a team," said Tsunade.

"Ah!" said Asuma, but my team is handicapped as well. Since Shikamaru is already a chuunin he won't be in the exams, which leaves Chouji and Ino alone."

"Don't worry," said Tsunade, "I already have someone on their way to fill in for Shikamaru as we speak." A knock sounded on the door. "That must be him." Shizune opened the door to reveal…Gaara!

"Him?" questioned both Kurenai and Asuma.

"Yes," said Tsunade. "Kankuro and Temari were…not cooperative with it so they are only here sightseeing. However, Gaara has agreed to help."

Asuma frowned, not an angry frown, but a confused one. "Why?" he questioned.

"Because I own a debt," said Gaara solemnly, "to Uzumaki Naruto."

The chuunin exams were on!


	3. Chapter 3:Pre Chuunin Battle

**Chapter 3: Pre-Chuunin Battle**

Naruto sat on top of his house, he was mad as hell, and not just because Neji had left or Ten-ten had died. He was mad because he had been looking for that guy for about a month and he hadn't seen him anywhere. It was like the guy was avoiding him! Naruto decided it would be best to cool off with some ramen. It was like Iruka-sensei told him. "A hot head will get a ninja burned." Or something like that. Anyway, he walked down to Ichiraku's for a bite of his favorite ramen.

He got there and ate it all in 10 seconds flat.

"More please!" he said happily. Ichiraku's always made him feel better.

"Another coming up!" said the owner, a kindly old man whom Naruto had grown to like.

After Naruto had finished his tenth bowl of ramen he paid and left. He was heading back to his house when he heard a strange noise. It sounded like someone speaking with something over their mouth. It was coming from a house next to him. He arched an eyebrow at the strange noise. He realized the sound was coming from the top floor in a house. He jumped onto a tree and peaked through the window. It was that genin kid! Uh, Jamus? Yeah! And he was with someone else. Naruto tried to get a good look at the other man but it was impossible. Jamus' hand was over his mouth. Naruto moved along the branch so that he could hear what they were saying.

"I know you had something to do with it so just admit it," said Jamus calmly.

The man started speaking incoherently behind Jamus' hand while wildly shaking his head. Jamus then placed his thumb and middle finger on both of the man's temples and squeezed. The man cried out in pain against his gag and thrashed around, but Jamus had too good a hold on him.

"Hey, stop it!" shouted Naruto. He crashed through the window just as Jamus turned around to face him. He bounced on the floor of the room and punched Jamus in the face. Jamus slid across the floor, away from Naruto and the man.

Naruto smiled smugly at Jamus. _'So much for mister super genin!'_ he thought. Suddenly, he saw at slight movement out of the corner of his eye. He jumped away just as a kunai knife embedded itself in a wall a short way from where he'd just been standing. Naruto turned and his eyes widened. The man had thrown the kunai.

"Wha? Why are you attacking me?" Naruto managed to say shakily.

"You are in the way," said the man simply in a low quiet voice that sounded somewhat nasally. The man had a scar on his forehead and his temples were very red. His eyes were dark brown and his hair was black, but graying. The man started to make seals.

Naruto acted fast, placing his two pointer and ring fingers in a cross.

"Shadow-Clone Jutsu!" he shouted. Five other Narutos appeared to either side of him just as the man completed his seals.

"Earth Style! Rock Fists Jutsu!" As he finished shouting this rocks came flying into the room and attached themselves to his hands till they were completely covered. Not an inch of flesh was visible on either hand. The man smiled, and Naruto frowned in frustration.

A Naruto charged the man, but was beaten aside and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The man pounded the ground with both fists, which caused such a rumble, all the Narutos fell over. The man attacked, punching the closest Naruto in the face then doing the same to the next one. Both vanished in puffs of smoke before the final two Narutos regained footing, but it was too late. The man's strategy was perfect, he had both Narutos by the neck and started squeezing. One vanished almost instantly. The man smiled a murderous smile.

"My name," he said "the last you will ever hear, is Jhi. Remember it, and tell everyone you meet in hell to fear it." Then Naruto vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Jhi's eyes went wide. "What? They were all clones?" Then ten Narutos burst through the floor and started to point and jeer at him.

"We fooled you!" One said holding his gut.

"And it was so easy too!" Laughed another.

"The…look on…your face!" choked out one right in front of Jhi. Jhi's face reddened with anger.

"Laugh it up while you can!" he raged, "But I won't fall for anymore of your tricks."

Suddenly all the Narutos were quiet and serious. Then one finally said, "Too late," and hands burst through the floor grabbing onto Jhi's legs. As he looked down all the Narutos rushed him, grabbing his arms, chest, neck, and pretty much anything they could find, all except two.

Jhi stood watching the two sweat dripping down his face. With all the Narutos on him he couldn't move. Then one smiled, "It's over," he said simply and normally. Then he stretched out a hand toward the other Naruto. The other then acted like he was hitting the firsts hand, but pulling back a short distance away. He did this several times very fast, till a blue glow began to form in the firsts hand. It started to take a ball shape and then solidified. It was chakra! So strong that it was visible. Jhi did not want to get hit by that, but he hadn't been getting what he wanted for a long time.

The second Naruto disappeared leaving the first all alone with a ball of chakra in his hand.

"Who are you?" asked Jhi, his mouth dry.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" The blonde haired youth replied. "The future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village! Believe it!"

And with that he attacked shouting, "Rasengan!" The chakra collided with Jhi, making all the Naruto clones disappear and sending Jhi spinning into, and through, the wall.

Naruto walked over to the wall and looked down at Jhi. Jhi got up immediately and ran away, into the forest.

Naruto's first feeling was that of pride, for having beaten that ninja, but it quickly changed to shock. He had never seen anyone get hit by his Rasengan, and then just get up and walk, or in this case run, away. That man was obviously holding back. Naruto smiled, but that was Ok, he was too.

Naruto spun around to Jamus, but he was gone! He must have left while Naruto was fighting. Naruto frowned and gritted his teeth. _'That coward!'_ he thought to himself, _'I wanted to fight _him_, not some retard who doesn't know how to thank someone for saving their life!'_ Oh, well, they would fight soon enough, in the chuunin exams!

Naruto's eyes widened, "Oh no!" he said out loud, "The exams are tomorrow and I haven't gotten any sleep!" He looked around and found a clock, it read 12:23! "It's past midnight! There's no way I'll be awake enough for the exams!" Naruto sprinted home as fast as he could and went immediately to bed. The long awaited for exams had now become a dreaded test Naruto knew he wasn't ready for.

Daylight came swiftly, and with it, the start of the Chuunin Exams!


	4. Chapter 4:The Chuunin Exams

**Chapter 4: The Chuunin Exams**

Naruto stood with Lee and Sakura at the registration. Naruto yawned heavily.

"Naruto?" asked Sakura concerned, "Are you okay? You seem, out of it."

"Huh? Oh yes, sure, I'm Sakura okay, er, I mean I'm okay Sakura," Naruto said with his eyes half open.

"Naruto!" said Sakura hitting him on the head. "I can't believe that this is the most important part of our careers as ninja, and you're about to fall asleep."

"Well, you didn't have to hit me!" said Naruto with big tear drops in the corner of his eyes.

"Perhaps it was well that she did," Lee commented.

"What do you mean Lee?" asked Naruto confused.

"Well, you aren't asleep anymore," said Lee smiling.

Naruto's head fell forward. "Bushy-brows your jokes are getting worse and worse every day."

"I dunno," said Sakura with an evil gleam in her eye. "I think that you're just getting tired again. Want me to wake you up?"

"No, no," said Naruto quickly, raising his hands to protect himself. "I'm awake!"

After the three had gotten signed in they immediately reported to Kakashi.

"We're signed up sensei!" they said as one.

"Good," said Kakashi smiling, or what looked like a smile. It was hard to tell from behind the mask he always wore. "The Fifth has already set up the first exam. Now let me tell you these tests will be completely different from last year's. So be prepared for anything."

"We will be!" shouted Naruto grinning like a fool. "I'm gonna pass this year no matter what!"

"Well, we'll see," said Kakashi. "Now, the first test will be held in the forest just outside Konoha. Good luck."

"Wait, sensei!" said Sakura, "You forgot to tell us where."

Kakashi "smiled" again and said, "I know," then disappeared.

"Great," said Naruto. "He's lost it! Now we'll never even get to the first test."

"Well, maybe part of the first test is finding the first test," suggested Lee.

"But Lee, the forest is huge, it would take weeks, maybe even months to search all of it."

"Then there must be a trick to it!" said Lee stubbornly, "But we must not give up!"

"I still think that Kakashi sensei, just lost it," Naruto put in.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Anyway, we won't know until we go into that forest," and with that she marched off. Lee and a reluctant Naruto followed.

Kakashi "smiled" as sat down with the other jounin. He and Asuma were in a small room with two couches and a table in the middle. He was on one couch with Asuma on the opposite one. Asuma, of course, was smoking a cigarette.

"So where'd you send them Kakashi?" asked Asuma, smiling.

"The forest outside the village, of course. What about you?"

"The academy grounds."

"I sent mine to the hospital," said Kurenai, who was just arriving.

They laughed hard at that.

"Did you think they would get hurt that badly?" asked Asuma.

"No, but I'm not without a sense of humor," she answered smiling then taking a seat next to him.

"I sent mine to the Forest of Death," said Iruka walking in and taking a seat next to Kakashi.

"The Forest of Death?" asked Kurenai shocked.

"Isn't that a little extreme Iruka? They only just got out of the academy," said Asuma, just as shocked.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi can handle anything the Forest throws at them."

"It won't be just the Forest throwing things at them," said Kakashi. "And that's what I'm worried about."

Naruto collapsed on his back panting heavily. "Sakura-chan! We've been at it for hours and haven't found a thing! How much longer do we have to do this?"

"Naruto!" exclaimed Sakura. "First we've only been out for ten minutes and second we're not giving up until we've found the first test."

Naruto got up grunting, let out a big sigh, then continued on with the others. Two hours later they still didn't find anything. Sakura and Naruto sat on the ground sighing heavily.

"That settles it," said Naruto, "Kakashi-sensei has definitely lost it."

"I never thought I'd say this," said Sakura, "but I think you're right Naruto."

"Nonsense!" said Lee. "We must keep trying!"

Naruto and Sakura sighed again but reluctantly got up and walking over to Lee.

Suddenly, both Lee and Sakura crouched and began to look around.

"We are not alone," said Lee.

Naruto quickly spun around. "Where is he?"

"I don't know," said Lee, "but, there is more than one."

Naruto brought up his hands and crossed his fingers in a cross sign, then shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Now instead of one Naruto there were ten. Nine flew off to the trees. Almost immediately the sounds of fighting surrounded them. Naruto took out four kunai.

"I can't tell where the sounds are coming from," said Sakura.

"Just wait," said Naruto smiling. "I have a plan."

Sakura rolled her eyes doubtfully. Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared in the trees.

"There!" cried out Naruto, throwing a kunai. Then another puff appeared, and another.

"Split up!" yelled Lee. All three quickly disappeared into the trees.

Naruto meet up with two of his clones and attacked a man in all black, even his face was painted! No inch of him stood out, this was surprising since it wasn't night yet but didn't stop hotheaded Naruto from beating him senseless, or so Naruto thought.

The man was good, very good. Anytime Naruto tried to land a punch, he would jump away. He wouldn't even attack. He just dodged. It was painstakingly obvious that the man was just trying to wear out Naruto, and even though he knew that, Naruto kept fighting. The man was making a fool out of him, and Naruto wouldn't rest until he paid. He summoned more clones and began his assault again.

After several hours of this, Naruto was left on the ground and gasping for breath. But he didn't get a long break when he saw two kunai coming right at him. He rolled and created four more clones. He was just about to attack when Sakura came flying through the trees. She landed on her back next to him.

"Ow," she said getting up slowly. She too, was panting. "Damn, that guy just won't quit."

Another man, dressed exactly the same as the one Naruto was fighting burst from the trees. The man Naruto was fighting appeared in front of him. Naruto looked at him, then back to the new guy. They were exactly the same! For all Naruto knew, the one fighting Sakura could've been the one he was fighting all along, but why? Surely this meant something.

Naruto smiled, he would soon figure this out. Suddenly two clones burst through the ground under the man facing Naruto grapping his arms and keeping him in place. Naruto then threw a kunai at the man.

The man flicked away the clones easily, but couldn't dodge the kunai. It sliced right through his arm, leaving a nasty cut. He grabbed it and darted away. Naruto chased after him, leaving Sakura fighting her own man, but now with the help of the other two clones.

Suddenly the man burst through the trees to the side of Naruto, but didn't attack, instead he ran away, almost in the opposite direction. This made Naruto stop on a branch. He had seen the man with his own eyes go one way, but the trail of blood from the wound led another way.

'It must be an illusion or something.' Naruto decided and followed the bloody trail. Many more illusions came at him but Naruto dodged and kept following the trail. Finally, he found the real one. In a small clearing, but he was surrounded by illusions.

"Found you!" shouted Naruto. Many of the illusions gasped.

"You led him here!" said one.

"How could you! We were winning!" said another, but in a completely different voice. This made Naruto stop cold. Illusions, weren't supposed to be able to talk, and clones would all have the same voice. This meant…Naruto's eyes widened. They were all completely different people! That explained the costumes, and why they weren't getting tired like him! They would just switch people if one got tired, he would rest, then come in again after the others got tired, that way Naruto and his team would be easy to defeat, but that also meant that they were weak. Now all Naruto had to do was find a way to keep them from running away. Then he could Rasengan their asses. Rasengan…Naruto had just gotten the inspiration he needed.

"Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted. Hundreds of Naruto's appeared creating a circle around the small clearing, and more circles around the black clad men. It was a good thing he had been practicing with his Shadow Clone Jutsu, because without it this would never have worked.

Then on the inside of the circles huge wind tunnels formed trapping the men inside. It was all the clones using their chakra to create a large version of the second task Naruto did to learn Rasengan.

One man tried to jump away but hit the wind tunnel and stopped in the air as if he hit a brick wall. Naruto didn't even bother to hide his smile. Now in was a fair fight!


	5. Chapter 5:The First Test

**Chapter 5:The First Test**

Naruto looked over the men he had captured. There were eight in all. Three were individually trapped in the wind tunnels his clones were creating, but the other four had been around the wounded man. So the five of them were trapped together. His best bet was to take out the three one at a time, then deal with the five.

A clone suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Then another, and another. Naruto groaned, the clones only had so much chakra before they disappeared. He had to move fast.

He shot down into the ground and burrowed under one of the men. He then shot up and head butted him in the gut, flipped forward so that his feet were closer to the man's head and followed up with a kick in the face. The man flew a little bit, but hit the wall of air and fell to the ground spinning. He didn't get back up.

Naruto burrowed again under another man, but this one had saw what happened and was ready. He expertly dodged Naruto and was about to counter attack when man fell from the sky, literally! A man dressed in all black. The other man was stunned and Naruto took this opportunity to use the clones in this circle. Four came at the man. They all kicked him up in the air one after the other shouting, "U-zu-ma-ki!" Naruto jumped into the air and hit the man back down to earth with his heel yelling, "Naruto Barrage!"

Naruto landed with his back facing the man that had fallen from the sky. The man who was getting up and holding a kunai in one hand.

"Green Beast Landing!" shouted Lee, falling on top of the man and knocking him unconscious.

Naruto smiled. These guys were easy when they had no maneuvering room! And thanks to bushy-brows it just got easier still.

"Hey Lee! Nice of you to drop by!"

Lee laughed loudly and said, "Naruto! You made a joke! Very funny my friend, but I will make one funnier."

"Right." Three more clone vanished. "Lee we need to take these guys out fast! My clones can't hold them forever!"

"Ah, yes! We must hurry before your strategy goes up in smoke!" At that point Lee cracked up. "Haha! I've done it! I've made a joke funnier than-" he turned toward Naruto but only found a hole right where his teammate used to be standing. He looked around, and saw Naruto using a Rasengan on another man in black.

Naruto ran back to Lee, panting. "Alright, there are only five left, and one's injured, but we have to fight them all at once."

"Bring it on! If I cannot do this before all your clones disappear then I must do 50,000 push ups!"

"You don't think that's pushing it just a little."

"No, I do at least 10,000 every day."

Naruto was about to respond, but all his clones except one disappeared in the circle holding the five. Naruto didn't say anything, he dug. He decided to take out the wounded one first. He burst through the ground and head butted the man in the face. Blood spilt, and Naruto heard a cracking noise. He was right, the man had anticipated him, but, because of his injury, was unable to move fast enough to avoid injury.

One was gone, but the others didn't let that slow them. They all attacked Naruto just as the last clone vanished.

"Leaf Hurricane!" shouted Lee, kicking two into the big, outer circle. Just like the first man, they slammed into it, spiraled down the ground and were still. Unfortunately, for Naruto, the other two managed to get to him. He ducked the first punch, but the second hit him squarely in the gut. He grunted as the pain settled in.

Four other clones disappeared, and apparently so had Lee. He was nowhere to be found. Then, as if things weren't bad enough, another man appeared, but he appeared out of the trees on the outside of the circle, where the clones were. All he had to do was hit them once and the wall of air would be gone.

Naruto staggered away trying to catch his breath. He almost stepped into his own hole that he had made. One of the men saw this chance and leaped over the hole for Naruto, but, just in time, a hand shot out of the hole, Lee's hand! And he was pulled in. A few seconds later, Lee jumped out, facing the last man, except for…

Naruto looked back to the other man, the one behind the circle. He saw him on the ground unconscious with Sakura standing over him holding a very big rock. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He must have been the guy Sakura was fighting. He must have gotten tired and wondered why no one had shown up and gone back for help. He saw this scene and Sakura knocked him out when he wasn't paying attention. Now this guy was the only one left. Naruto felt happy that they were victorious, but he was completely devastated too. Because of this they had probably missed the first exam.

The man, even covered with all that face paint, looked horrified. "I-I give! You win the challenge." he shouted. Naruto and Lee were both taken aback. They hadn't expected this. What was he talking about?

"What do you mean, challenge?" asked Naruto.

The man pulled a scroll out of his shirt and tossed it to Naruto. "That is the directions to the second chuunin exam."

"Second!?" shouted Naruto, Lee, and Sakura at the same time. The rest of Naruto's clones disappeared and Sakura came running to see the scroll. Naruto opened it. Yes, it was a map, and it had directions. It apparently led to a flat land just beyond the Mountain of the Hokage's.

"Come on," said the man, sighing. "I'll lead you back to your sensei."

Naruto shrugged and he, Lee, and Sakura followed the man back into the village. He lead them to a small house at the edge of town the Mountain. He walked around to the back and entered the door there.

When the three walked in the gasped loudly. Jounin and Head Ninja were all there, even an ANBU member sat in a corner. The place was packed. There were only two couches to sit on, and a table sat in the middle of the room, making even less space available.

When the four walked in the room quieted down. Kakashi, who was sitting on a couch, stood up.

"Well, I hadn't expected my team to be early, but, well surprises happen. Congratulations on passing the first exam."

"Kakashi-sensei," said Sakura, "why didn't you tell us that that was the exam?"

"Well, Sakura, part of the exam was to test your ability to handle surprises."

"Well then how come it took so long just for them to find us?" interrupted Naruto.

"Well, another part is to test whether or not you quit if something takes too long. A chuunin must have extreme patience, so we didn't have them attack you for four hours."

"Pardon me, Kakashi-sensei," said Lee. "But we looked for six hours."

"Hey, now!" said the man in black defensively, "It's a big forest!"

"Anyway," said Kakashi, "the last part was to test your endurance, and, more importantly, your will to keep fighting. In fact, they would have stopped after the five hour time limit passed and gave you the scroll, but you managed to figure out the secret and beat them two hours early."

"So the test actually doesn't officially stop for another two hours?" asked Sakura. "What are we supposed to do for two hours?"

"Rest," said Kakashi. "You must be tired from fighting for three hours straight."

"Sounds good to me!" said Naruto quickly. Sakura stifled a yawn. She was indeed, incredibly tired. Only Lee seemed to not feel the effects of fatigue. This was no more than an afternoon's workout for him. Perhaps preparation for the next exam was what he should do.

"Okay," Kakashi said, "The rooms are upstairs," he pointed to a staircase off in a corner.

Naruto and Sakura rushed up the stairs with Lee following.

"Wait! Naruto!" he said loudly. "Before you go to bed, may I have the scroll?"

"Sure Lee," said Naruto reached into his pocket and bringing out the scroll. "Whatcha need it for anyway?"

"Research," said Lee as he took the scroll.

Naruto wanted to ask him what kind of research, but he was far too tired. He reached the top of the stairs and stopped, stunned.

Ino, Chouji, Gaara, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino were already there talking and playing with cards! Naruto wasn't the first one here! What's worse, Kiba beat him!

"Oh! That Kiba! He thinks he's so much better than me! I'll show him!" Naruto raged.

"Relax Naruto," Sakura said, even though she herself was thinking the same about Ino. "At least only two teams are here, it could be worse."

"Um," said Lee, "not to be disrespectful Sakura, but there are three teams here." He pointed over to a dark corner of the room where Jamus and his teammates were sitting. Yesa and Iora were talking quietly to each other and obviously exhausted. And why shouldn't they be. They were tied for dead last in their class! Not exactly grade "A" material there. Jamus, however, was top in his class, shattering every record ever set and graduating in one day. Right now he was just looking out the window, but sooner or later he and Naruto would fight. And Naruto couldn't wait.

If not for the fact that Naruto was completely exhausted, and Jamus didn't appear to have even broken a sweat and the fact that Sakura was holding him back, Naruto would've challenged him then and there.

But now was the time for rest, not confrontation, so Naruto and Sakura setting down in a bed and went to sleep.

"Remember this place is completely flat," said Lee for about the tenth time. They were walking past the Mountain of the Hokage's headed toward the site of the second exam. Lee was telling them of the strategies he'd devised while studying the map of the area. Now he knew the land in the area they'd be testing in. "There will be absolutely no place to hid, but that also means no place for the opponent to hid. If we can find a way to exploit this-"

"Then we will have an advantage over everyone else," completed Sakura. "Lee you've already told us this multiple times."

"Sorry," said Lee smiling, "It's just that," his smile faded, "Well, usually Neji is the one who comes up with plans like this. I'm just happy that I for once did it! It fills me with the burning power of youth!" his eyes became alive with fire.

"Well, at least we know bushy-brows is ready for whatever th-" He stopped dead, so did everyone else. No one was prepared for what was around the corner.

It was a huge field, completely empty and completely flat. Just like Lee said, but there was one thing the map didn't show. The entire field was colored! Not just light shades in the grass, vibrant, artificial colors! There was red, blue, yellow, orange, pink, a very bright green, white, brown, it just went on. Like a rainbow on the ground. Then in the very center a huge black circle that took up most of the space! Also there were five wooden poles with tables balanced on top. Then to add to the confusion, in the center of the black circle was Tsunade standing next to a pile of thin wooden squares. She smiled as they walked in the circle of black.

"Welcome those of you who didn't give up," she said in a loud booming voice. "You've passed the first test, but the second won't be as easy!" she smiled. "This is probably the hardest test we've ever given, so we'll give anyone who wants out a chance to leave now, or anytime during the test they want!" Naruto smiled, he knew this game. They had tried it last time with him and failed, this time would be no different. "Oh, and for those who took the test last time, you will be required to do this, if you don't, or do to slowly, you fail and go home," Tsunade added, as if reading Naruto's mind.

"And what exactly is it?" asked Sakura.

Tsunade smiled. "It is-"


	6. Chapter 6:The Second Test

**Chapter 6: The Second Test**

"It is a memory test, a strength test, an intelligence test, a speed test, and a deftness test all in one," Tsunade finished looking rather pleased at the wide eyes and open mouths all around her.

"Wow!" said Sakura with wide eyes, "This isn't going to be easy."

"You can say that again," said Lee, also with wide eyes.

"Hey Sakura?" asked Naruto, "What does deftness mean?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "It means to be precise and accurate in something. Having deft hands means that your hands can be accurate and precise while doing something that requires a lot of concentration, like putting together a ship in a bottle."

"Now you had better listen up and remember this well, because I'm not going to say it again!"

"So is this the memory part of it then?" asked Naruto loudly.

"Shh!" said both Sakura and Lee at the same time.

"No!" shouted back Tsunade. "Now, first your team will choose a color out of this," she said as she pulled a small jar. "You may have been wondering why the ground was painted, well, now you know! The color you draw will be the area of the field you go to. Once you step into this area no one will be able to touch you. It will be your home, so to speak."

"Once everyone has a color they will move to their tables," she indicated the tables on the poles. "You may notice that these tables only have one leg, and you may not have noticed that the tables aren't connected to the leg, but are balanced on top of it. This has a reason, but you'll find that out later."

Naruto looked at one of the tables closely, it was true! The table was just barely on the leg!

"Once all twenty remaining teams are at their tables the test will begin. Each team will be given a test," she held up a piece of paper. "The five questions will be easy, but that's not all there is to it. You will then be required to make your way into the black circle and get these wooden squares," she picked up one square from the pile next to her. Naruto saw that it had something written on it but couldn't see what it was.

"Each square has a letter on it, this one has the letter 'B'. You will have to move these letters from here to your color and use them to spell out the answer to the questions. You will have to remember the answers because you may not take the questions with you. You have to spell the answers out on the table, and you may only carry them one at a time. If anyone has more than one in his/her hand's then he/she and his/her teammates will fail automatically." Naruto swallowed, his also heard Lee and Sakura swallow beside him.

"Also if you knock over your table you have to start all over. And no one may hold onto or touch the table in any way of keeping it level! All your squares will be brought back into the center by me or another instructor, and you must properly balance your table on its leg before you may start again. The first eight teams to finish will move on to the final test."

"Only eight teams will pass!?" exclaimed a ninja from another team.

"Yes," said Tsunade, "Now, there is one other thing. This black circle I am in is a neutral area. Anyone can be in it and anything can happen in it. There are only a limited number of squares, so perhaps a smart thing to do would be to make sure your opponents can't get any squares you might need. Now, I have twenty colors here in this jar: red, blue, green, yellow, pink, brown, white, orange, dark blue, dark green, burnt orange, purple, sky blue, apricot, tan, silver, gold, dark tan, dark red, light purple, and gray."

All the teams came forward and one after the other picked colors. Gaara, Ino, and Chouji were red. Shino, Hinata, and Kiba were orange. Jamus' team picked gold, and the team with the man that had shouted out during Tsunade's speech, grabbed light purple. Another team drew yellow, and another drew dark green. Finally, Naruto reached into the jar. As he did so he could see Lee with his hands together in prayer out of the corner of his eye. Lee seemed to be saying something quietly, but Naruto couldn't tell what. Whatever it was Sakura didn't seem happy about because she smacked her forehead with her open hand in a show of annoyance. Naruto pulled out the small piece of paper. It was bright green.

Lee jumped up shouting, "Hooray! Green, the color of youth! Fortune smiles down on us today my friends!" flames appeared in his eyes, "Thanks to this we will pass this test with no-" He stopped suddenly as Sakura hit him on the head.

"Geez Lee it's just a color!"

"A youthful color," stated Lee which earned him another hit on the head.

They walked to the strip of land painted green and waited for the others to do the same. Everyone was soon by their tables. Kakashi walked up to Sakura and gave her a piece of paper.

"The test has begun," he said, then walked off.

Naruto looked at the first question, it read _Genin, Chuunin, Head Ninja, ._

"That's not a question," said Naruto.

"No it's a fill in the blank!" cried out Sakura. "The answer is Jounin!"

"I've got it!" said Lee, as he bolted toward the center. Lee made it to the center before anyone else thanks to his speed. He was easily the fastest ninja here. He located a 'U', took it and sped back to Sakura, Naruto was already moving to get a letter himself. He gave it to Sakura and sped back to the center where most ninja were fighting over the letters.

Sakura put the letter on the table, a little too hard because the table fell off the leg. Kakashi came over, took the letter and threw it back to the center.

"Calm down, Sakura," he said calmly. "Slow and steady wins the race."

Sakura nodded, she had already cost them their advantage, because she had underestimated the stability of the table. She calmed down and set the table back up. It stayed! They were back in the race! And just in time too. Both Naruto and Lee came back. But they both had the same letter, a 'J'.

"We don't need two J's!" Sakura raged at them. "You need to talk to each other! Um, also, Lee, I accidently knocked the table over. We need another 'U'."

At that moment _another_ Naruto came over. "Guess what I just got hit in the head with, a 'U'!" he said smiling proudly not knowing how lucky he was.

"Never mind," said Sakura smiling. "Okay, we have two J's and a U. That means we need: two N's, an O, and an I."

"Got it!" said both Narutos and Lee at the same time.

"We'll go for the N's okay Lee?"

"Alright, I will get an I."

"And I'll get the O," said Sakura.

Then they all sped off. Naruto created two more Shadow Clones to use as distractions. However, Kiba attacked one and Akamaru bit the other.

"Heh. Naruto, it's payback time!" he said loudly making seals with his hands. "Man-Beast Transformation!" There was a puff of smoke and now there were two Kiba's instead of one and an Akamaru.

"Ha! Kiba you'd be better off it you changed into the dog! Your just making him weaker by changing into you!"

Kiba snarled at him. "We'll show you!" he said as they charged.

Naruto made six more Shadow Clones then ran off with the other clone. Right now he had to get the N's. He could deal with Kiba later, and Lee was already heading back.

Naruto had to fight his way to the middle, but luckily everyone was fighting everyone else so all he had to do was stay out of the way, and it wouldn't be too hard. Already there were people on the ground, being stepped on and tripped over. It was carnage!

Finally Naruto and his clone made it to the pile of squares. They began to dig through when a kunai appeared in the clone's back. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto looked around and saw the man who had shouted out earlier. He was smiling and holding a kunai.

"Mind if I look through that pile little man?" he asked none too kindly.

Naruto gritted his teeth, and he had just found an N too. Suddenly, the man gasped and fell to his knees. Behind him stood Hinata with her palm in the man's back.

Naruto took this chance to create two more Shadow clones. He gave the N to one of them and made the other look for another N. The man recovered from his shock and kicked Hinata. She fell to the ground. The man stood over her looking very hurt and very angry. He raised his kunai to throw at her, but Naruto punched him in the back of the head before he had a chance.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw his clones sprinting toward the painted grass. He had found the other N. Hopefully Sakura would find the "I" soon.

Sakura dodged the kunai thrown at her jumped into the air. She could see Naruto in the middle, but couldn't get to him. The man attacking her was too good. He followed her into the air and kicked her back down to earth. She landed on someone else who grunted. At least that unfortunate person had broken her fall, but that was the least of her worries. The man above her was now rocketing down, too fast to dodge.

"Leaf Hurricane!" shouted Lee as he kicked the man above Sakura. Sakura gasped as Lee landed right beside her.

"Sakura," said Lee. "Do you have the 'I'?"

"No, that man has it," she said.

"I see. The next answer is _chakra_. Here," he threw a letter at her. It was an H. "Naruto is returning with both N's and an A. I will retrieve the 'I'. Go!"

Sakura ran as fast as she could. She could already see Naruto with his two clones placing the letters in the pile they had.

Lee assumed his fighting stance. He had to get the "I" fast. He charged at the man, and kicked him in the gut. The man gasped obviously winded, and surprised, he didn't expect Lee to have this much speed. Lee then proceed to kick and punch the man all over his body. Not just for the sake of hurting him, but to find out where he was hiding the letter. Then he hit it. Just above the man's heart.

He grabbed at it, but the man jumped away, panting heavily. He then turned and ran toward the silver strip of land. Lee rocketed after him. If the man made it there then he would be helpless. Luckily Lee was far faster than the man. He reached him easily and tripped him, pinning him down. He reached into the man's breast pocket and pulled out, a C?

"Where is the 'I'?"

The man smiled and reached into his thick hair. He took out the "I" and threw it towards the silver area where his teammate was waiting. Lee's eyes widened and he sprinted toward the airborne letter.

He caught it, but with his toes just barely out of the silver grass. Then he started to fall forward. He was losing his balance! He looked at the man standing in front of him, just out of reach, smiling. Lee then did the only thing he could do. He acted on instinct.

He jumped at the man and used his body as a wall to jump off of. He landed inside the black circle and sprinted toward his own color. He made it to the table to see Sakura carefully placing the tiles on the table. Lee placed his own tile in the pile and left her to her work.

He looked back at the pile. There was a considerable amount more than when he last looked. Then about ten Naruto's came back, each carrying another letter.

"That's all of them Sakura," he said, panting.

"Quiet Naruto!" she said holding a letter, "This isn't easy you know! And if I make a mistake we have to start all over! We can't afford that. Five teams are already done."

"Six," said Naruto. "Kiba's team finished just after I took this last letter.

"Great."

Suddenly, a kunai flew straight at Sakura. Lee grabbed it just in time.

"They're trying to knock our table over!" shouted Lee as more kunai flew toward them. "The seventh team must have finished, now we have all the right letters!" He caught three more kunai, and Naruto jumped in front of another one, vanishing in a puff of smoke. "Naruto, we must protect Sakura!"

Naruto took out a kunai himself and said, "No problem."

The kunai seemed never ending. At one point all of Naruto's clones were killed and he had to make more. 36 ninja, 12 teams, were doing their best to make sure Sakura failed, but Lee wouldn't allow that. They had come too far now to be stopped that easily.

Naruto once again lost all his clones to the onslaught of kunai. It was now a flood of knives. There was no way they would be able to continue this. Then a kunai made its way past Naruto, there was no way to stop it, and Sakura had almost finished. It hit on the arm. She gasped as it jerked her to the side. She was about to crash into the table. It was over.

Then, she stopped. Lee's eyes widened, she had stopped herself from hitting the table by inches, no a fraction of an inch. She placed another on the table just as another kunai streaked by Lee. This time she would certainly knock the table over, but in a blur of orange Naruto appeared by her side and the kunai hit his arm. He grunted in pain as Sakura put the final letter on the table then fell to the ground. Immediately Kakashi took Sakura, Naruto, and Lee and pulled them to safety.

They had done it. On the table were the words: _Jounin, Chakra, Mind, Hokage, and Ninja._

The second test was over.


	7. Chapter 7:The Third Test

Sorry everyone. My computer crashed, again, and I had to get a brand new one! Talk about bad luck. Anyway, I'll be writing my next chapters on this computer! So give me a while for the next chapter. I want to get it up to date. The reason I'm writing this chapter now is because I feel you deserve at least one chapter after my long absence. Well, on with the show!

**Chapter 7: The Third Exam**

Naruto made his way to the huge stadium where the third exam was being held. It was the same as the one used for the finals last year. It was a dome of stone that had no top, as if some giant had cut it clean off. Naruto also saw that there was much more security around the stadium this year. Everyone was given a pass and had to present it to the guards before entering the stadium. Every guest had to have a pass and even Tsunade herself had one. It looked like there was going to be a tournament again.

Naruto sighed; with the unexpected toughness of the last two tests Naruto expected something a little more challenging and creative, oh well.

Tsunade walked to the center of the area wearing the Hokage's head dress.

"Welcome to the final test of the Chuunin Exams!" she said, a little more glamorously than needed. "First I would like to thank all of you for coming, in spite of last year's, er…excitement. This year will be, of course, the traditional one-on-one tournament, in which you decide you will pass or fail."

Naruto snorted, "Kinda obvious," He said looking bored.

Lee turned to him, "Never expect the obvious, Naruto, especially not from a ninja."

"But," continued Tsunade, "we've decided to raise the stakes this year."

Naruto looked up, "See?" said Lee. Naruto frowned, he was mad that Fuzzy Brows had outsmarted him, but he had to be happy that he would get a challenge out of this.

Tsunade gestured and a pair of ninja brought in a ball spinner. Like the things they use to spin out balls in Bingo, or the Lottery. Sure enough another ninja came out with a bag of balls, but these balls didn't have numbers on them, they had pictures, pictures of them! Naruto saw a ball with a picture of himself on the very top.

The ninja handed the balls and the ball spinner to Tsunade which she took, with one hand, and placed on the ground.

"The matches will all be completely random," she told the guests as well as the contestants. "Every round two balls will be spun out of this," she indicated the ball spinner, "and the two ninja the balls represent will fight. Afterwards the winner will advance and the loser's ball will be taken out." A gleam of malice entered her eyes, "The twist is that the winner's ball will be put back in immediately after the match has ended."

The ninja around Naruto gasped. "But that means…" started Sakura.

"That means that a ninja could fight one match or even every match, though the chances are slim. Also if a ninja must fight twice in a row he or she will not, I repeat not, be given a chance to rest, no matter the circumstances. A match will end when one or both ninja, give up, are knocked out, or die." She said that last word with extra malice in her voice.

"Ya know," said Naruto, "No matter what I do in life someone always tells me that the next thing I do might cause me to die."

"It's crazy, but I know what you mean," said Lee.

Tsunade now spoke directly to the audience, "In today's exam these ninja will be competing: Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf Village, Sakura Haruno of the Hidden Leaf Village, Rock Lee of the Hidden Leaf Village, Noma Heru of the Hidden Flame Village, Shino Aburame of the Hidden Leaf Village, Burame Yoi of the Hidden Mist Village, Hesoma Rodan of the Hidden Flame Village, Hinata Hyuuga of the Hidden Leaf Village, Kiba Inuzuka of the Hidden Leaf Village, Ino Yamanaka of the Hidden Leaf Village, Gaara of the Hidden Sand Village, Chouji Akimichi of the Hidden Leaf Village, Uzona Wetnen of the Hidden Ocean Village, Doni Veaz of the Hidden Ocean Village, Commo Seiama of the Hidden Wind Village, Flire Flamin of the Hidden Flame Village, Sonna Yuria of the Hidden Mist Village, Izon Ardeno of the Hidden Ocean Village, Gir Hurenodan of the Hidden Wind Village, Seclair Boanar of the Hidden Wind Village, Hyea Xan of the Hidden Mist Village, Yesa of the Hidden Leaf Village, Iora of the Hidden Leaf Village, and Jamus of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

Naruto looked around him; there were a lot of ninja here to compete against, and not just from the leaf village either. No, these guys were not going to be weak. The other villages would send only their strongest teams. Naruto hadn't heard much about the Ocean and the Flame Villages, but the Mist was a strong lot and the Wind loved to use trickery to win. Sakura had told him that once.

"Hey Sakura," said Naruto quietly, "what do you know about these Ocean and Flame Villages?"

"Well," said Sakura just as quietly, "I've heard that the Ocean used to have some of the strongest clans in the world, but most have died out. However, that doesn't mean we're in the clear. The Ardeno clan is said to have a powerful bloodline limit. The power to use ninjutsu without using any chakra! And some clans from the Flame Village have been working with that Flire kid," she indicated a tall, skinny, red-haired boy with black flames painted on his face standing with the utmost patience, "to teach him some sort of secret technique."

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

"I do," said Lee, "It is the power to use ninjutsu and genjutsu without seals."

Naruto was about to respond when Tsunade spoke. "Before we begin the final exam, we will run a medical inspection on the contestants to make sure that they are in fighting condition." Actually they had already had a day's rest. Naruto didn't see why they had to be checked on medically. Though it couldn't hurt.

"So, the third test has begun," said a man, blackness hid his face completely.

"Yes father, they will start the first round shortly,"

"Good, and our men?"

"We have successfully smuggled twenty stanine into the stadium."

"I mean the others, fool."

"Oh, of course father. Yes they have made it to the third round, of course, and according to the scouts the competition should be very poor, excepting of course this Gaara fellow. He is without a doubt the strongest of the ninja."

"Really? My associate tells me of another, even more powerful ninja within their ranks, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Ha! That boy? Your associate gives him far too much credit. All scouts report that he has, some skill, but in comparison to our men, he is like a fly trying to attack a tiger."

"All it takes is a fly. Once you underestimate your opponent you can consider yourself as good as dead. I want this boy watched. I want our men to be aware of this danger to the mission."

"Of course father, anything you say."

"Good boy. Soon Konoha will belong to me, and then the Hidden Leaf Village will cease to exist."

Yuoo had, much to his discontent, been stationed on guard duty during the chuunin exams. He wanted to watch the fights. Well, everyone did, but they had good reason, Jamus. That boy had more talent then an army of jounin. It would be an opportunity of a lifetime to watch him fight. He graduated the academy in one week! That was phenomenal! Most jounin didn't even have the skills he possessed now.

Two people came over a hill heading toward the stadium. They were both dressed in all black cloaks with the hoods pulled over their heads hiding their faces, even though it was summer and very hot. The one on Yuoo's right was tall, taller than Yuoo himself and much taller than the person on Yuoo's left. That person looked to be a kid. Perhaps no older than 15.

As they approached the gate Yuoo stopped them. "Do you have a pass?" he asked professionally. He could feel the tall one smiling at him even though it was impossible to see it.

"No," he said in a whispered voice that seemed to chill Yuoo's bones. The four other guards gripped their weapons, swords and spears mostly though one had a crossbow. "Although," continued the tall one, "You will have to make an exception for my friend and I."

"Oh and why is that?" The tall man laughed lightly, and Yuoo could feel sweat dripping down his back.

"Because you can't guard this place if you're dead." Yuoo's eyes widened as a kunai slipped from the tall man's hands to plant itself in his throat. There was no pain. The only noise he heard was the gasp then silent thunk of the guards behind him taking their last breaths.

Yuoo fell to the ground and watched as Orochimaru walked calmly into the stadium. Then everything went dark as he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Once again Naruto walked out into the stadium, 23 others paraded out behind him. He had to admit he was more than a little impatient, but he was finally going to see some action.

Tsunade strode up the ball spinner and shouted, "Let the third exam begin!" a great roar of applause exploded from the crowd as she spun the ball spinner.

A ball fell out and she took it. It had a picture of Sakura on it.

"Sakura Haruno will be fighting in the first match!"

Naruto looked over at Sakura who looked surprised, but determined. Naruto smiled, he knew that Sakura had come a long way.

"Her opponent will be…" continued Tsunade.

He pitied the poor idiot who would have to fight Sakura.

Tsunade looked at the second ball and appeared to choke for a second. Naruto raised an eyebrow, was it Jamus? Tsunade then smiled a wide malicious smile that made Naruto shiver.

"Her opponent will be," repeated the Hokage, "Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto suddenly wished he could throw up right then and there.

There you have it. Now please, please, Please review! I need reviews! Need! Reviews! It doesn't matter if it's a paragraph or half a sentence. Just please give me reviews! Also if there is a certain fight you want to see tell me and I'll see what I can do. ;)


	8. Chapter 8: Sakura vs Naruto

**Chapter 8: Sakura vs. Naruto**

Naruto looked at Sakura across the stadium, Sakura, his opponent. She looked back with a bit of surprise in her eyes, then she smiled. Naruto frowned, confused wondering what she was thinking, then she spoke.

"Hey Naruto! If you think I'm going easy on you forget it! I'm gonna win this thing and you can't do anything about it!"

Naruto wanted to say something back, he didn't want to fight, no matter what she said, but before he could even open his mouth Tsunade opened hers.

"Begin!" she shouted.

Sakura sprinted toward him already making hand signs. Then three other Sakuras appeared at her sides. 'Shadow Illusion Jutsu,' thought Naruto automatically. He jumped away as one tried to punch him, but then that one and two others disappeared in puffs of smoke with the real Sakura coming right towards him.

He landed and quickly ducked just before Sakura could hit him.

"Come on Naruto!" she said as he back-flipped away, "If you just give up like this it won't be any fun. But I guess that if you're too scared to fight me, you can give up."

"Ha! Me? Scared of you? No I'm just afraid I'll hurt you if I show my real power. I mean come on, me against you? I'll beat you no problem."

"Really, well why don't you prove it!" she said mockingly as she came running toward him.

Naruto made a single hand sign and called out, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Two clones appeared in front of him blocking Sakura from clobbering him while another appeared below the ground poised and ready to strike.

Sakura smiled, _'Same old predictable Naruto.'_ She thought to herself. She pulled out two kunai and threw them at the clones. The clones disappeared in puffs of smoke, leaving the original Naruto wide open!

Suddenly the ground beneath her opened up and a fourth Naruto appeared fist streaming right for her face. Naruto smiled.

Naruto's smile vanished when Sakura disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving behind only a piece of wood. "Replacement Jutsu!" was all he had time to say before the real Sakura punched him so hard he flew all the way to the other side of the area and hit the wall.

Sakura's pride and ego sky rocketed as Naruto crashed into the wall. But that was short lived as Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sakura was in deep shock, so much that she to react to the Naruto, the real Naruto, that was running straight toward her with Rasengan in hand.

She could only watch with surprise painted on her face as Naruto unleashed his full power Rasengan with a great cry of, "RASENGAN!"

Sakura's world was spinning so fast that all she could see was a blur of color. Then the wall hit her, or she hit the wall. She was too dizzy to think straight, and she was upside down to boot. She slid to the ground and stayed there, trying to collect her bearings. She sat up and shook her head slightly.

Naruto could only gloat. "Ha! I sure did trick you. The only reason I made those first two clones was to keep you from seeing the replacement jutsu seals I was making. You may have known about the clone I made underground, but what you didn't know was that I replaced myself with that clone, because I knew that you couldn't care less about my clones and only care about clobbering the real me."

Sakura was furious that she fell for such a trick, but she did have to admit Naruto was getting better, a lot better. Only her super human strength and endurance, plus all the experience as medical saved her from being rendered helpless and from losing the match this early.

"Alright Naruto I have to admit, that was pretty impressive, but," Sakura fixed him with a stare that could scare even Kakashi, "I don't plan on losing this fight to you!"

Naruto stepped back from the stare that made him want to wet his pants, gulped, and prepared for absolute pain.

Sakura focused her chakra into her feet and hands. This would give her more speed and strength, hopefully enough to knock Naruto into next week. Then she punched the ground hard enough for it to shake, knocking Naruto off balance and drawing many gasps from the crowd. Seizing the opportunity, Sakura dashed over to Naruto and knocked him high into the air. Then she jumped up to him and began swinging him round and round as they fell. When they were close to the ground she spun him right into the dirt, and jumped away.

Naruto's entire world was flashing white before his eyes. It felt like every bone in his body was broken.

**"You're weak boy. How you would ever manage to survive without me is beyond even thinking about,"** mocked the nine-tail's voice inside him. **"But I am a kind prisoner-"**

_'No, demon!'_ thought Naruto violently, _'I don't want your power, not if it means I have to use it against Sakura.'_

**"If you ever want to win you must lose your feelings for this girl."**

_'I don't have to win to become a chuunin.'_

**"But what about Hokage? Will you let her become Hokage instead? Is she so important to you that you would give up your dream for her?"**

This statement put Naruto at a loss for words. The Hokage was supposed to be the strongest ninja in the village. If he lost, then everyone would know she was stronger than him.

_'Ok, you win, but only enough to heal my wounds.'_

**"Of course." **The fox smiled as Naruto's consciousness left, his freedom was close at hand.

Naruto got up, his wounds steaming, but healing all the same. Sakura, naturally, looked shocked, but that wasn't about to stop her from winning. She took out a handful of shuriken, ready to throw, when Naruto's body started to glow red. A familiar feeling washed over her. The same feeling she had when Naruto beat back Haku, and from the chuunin exam finals when Naruto used his strange chakra to beat Neji. It was a feeling of hate. Hate deeper than she knew possible. It was strange, really. The chakra emanating from him was both strange and somehow familiar, as if she herself had once been smothered in it.

Inside, her inner self shouted at her.

**"Cha! Kill him! Kill the demon boy, he deserves it!"**

Sakura couldn't fathom why Naruto deserved to die or why he was being labeled as a demon. But she had such an urge to plunge a kunai into heart.

**"Don't resist it! Kill him! Kill him!"**

Such an awful hate rose up in her, yet she didn't know why.

**"Here he comes!"**

Naruto was moving toward her at an incredible speed. She threw her shuriken, but he easily dodged them and kept coming. She threw a punch, but he disappeared right before contact.

He appeared again this time behind her and punched her away. Suddenly, something inside Sakura snapped. It was as if her inner self had burst with the hate that was seeping through her every pore.

Naruto looked up at another Sakura, a much, much bigger Sakura made completely out of white lines.

**"Chici!" **said the demon fox with surprise!

Tsunade gasped in awe, it was a spirit! Somehow it got inside of Sakura and now, it was coming out!

The spirit changed shape into something of a fox.

**"Kyuubi!" **It shouted to Naruto. **"I've been waiting a long time to do this. You will die, and that brat along with you!"**


	9. Chapter 9: Battle of the Demons

**Chapter 9: Battle of the Demons**

**"Damn it!" **shouted the Kyuubi in Naruto's mind,** "How am I supposed to fight her trapped in here?"**

_'Well I don't know,'_ said Naruto to Kyuubi. _'Maybe if I had some control over my body I could do something!'_

**"You wanted the power wretch."**

_'I only wanted enough to heal my wounds, damn fox!'_

**"Do you know how severe your wounds were?"**

_'Please! With the amount of chakra you gave me I could've regenerated half my body!!'_

**"Shut up and defend me! She's coming!"**

"She?" said Naruto aloud unaware that he had regained control of his body. He turned his head just in time to see a mass of whites lines cascade down upon him.

Each line that touched him left cuts in his flesh that smoked and burned painfully. Naruto screamed as hundreds of lines cut through him like hundreds of burning knives.

**"Gah!" **screamed the Kyuubi. **"Damn you boy this hurts me too. Run!"** chakra started to pour out of the fox's body. Naruto was confused, through all the pain he was experiencing he wondered. Physical pain never hurt the fox before. What was different this time.

But before he could think more on this a deep gash in his arm forced him to jump out of the tornado of lines. _'What is going on here! If I'm going to fight I think I deserve to know what I'm fighting.'_

**"Fair enough. The thing that you're fighting is a spirit named Chici. She is a spirit who is deeply attracted by power. A long time ago that spirit came to me** **and loved me for my strength, but I am a demon and emotions like love are worthless to me. So I took away her spiritual form and her connection to the Earth as punishment for trying to woe a demon. Now she can only live inside someone else and she might be a little mad at me."**

_'Well I don't blame her, and if she didn't have to go through me I'd totally let her have you! But I still don't see how she got inside Sakura.'_

**"Well, coincidently she came to me while I was at the Leaf Village, so I assume she just got into the closest newborn she could. You see its easier for a spirit or anything for that matter to enter a host when that host is: 1. The same gender, and 2. At a very young age. Like when I was forced to enter you."**

_'Well I'm glad that you didn't have any trouble entering my body,' _thought Naruto sarcastically, _'But now that history's over how do I stop her?'_

**"Simple put her in a new host using my chakra."**

_'What! I can't do that! Isn't there another way?'_

**"Well, I could lead her back to the spiritual world, but that would take a very large amount of chakra."**

_'Why is it that every time you help me it involves your chakra. That stuff is so vile I think I might throw up if it touches me again.'_

**"It can't be worse than being stuck inside someone like yo- Look out!"**

Naruto jerked awake from his conversation with the fox. Chici was coming at him with everything she had. She had taken the form of Sakura again, rising 20 feet in the air. She swung her huge fist, which Naruto nimbly dodged.

**"I swear, if you die on me boy—"**

_"You'll what? If I go down you're coming with me."_

**"For now."**

_"What is that supposed to mean?" _Naruto suddenly became afraid If the fox had figured out a way to get out, the whole village was doomed.

**"She's coming again!"**

Another giant fist landed right where Naruto had stood only moments before. He couldn't do this forever, even with the fox's chakra.

**"If you're going to send her back to the spirit world then hurry up and do it!"**

Naruto thought about this. The idea of the fox's chakra even touching him sounded horrible. If only there was some way to stop the demon from controlling Sakura. Then Naruto had an idea.

Naruto dodged Chici's giant fist again, and ran toward her.

**"Fool! You cannot kill me!" **shouted Chici in what sounded like, amusement.

**"She's right! You aren't a match for her, and even if you were, killing her would kill your girlfriend too. Release my chakra! It's the only way!"**

Naruto didn't hear a word either of them said, his concentration was on one person and one person only…the real Sakura.

When Naruto thought back all those years ago, to when he fought Gaara, he remembered Shukakuu. In order to put him back into Gaara he had to wake Gaara up by hitting him. That was now his goal, his only thought in the world. He had to wake up Sakura.

Chici melted into white lines again, razor sharp, deadly.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Four other Naruto's appeared and, simultaneously, they jumped in five different directions, forcing the white lines to scatter everywhere. Some bumped into others causing little jams in the air, and causing Naruto's chances to soar.

**"Your plan won't work, you can't beat a demon!"**

Kyuubi's and Chici's voices sounded as one, but Naruto refused to listen. He didn't have to beat Chici. He only had to make sure she lost.

Each Naruto ducked, dove, and dodged past the white lines, however, even with the depleted number of the lines, two Narutos disappeared in a puff of smoke within seconds. Naruto could see Sakura now, protected by a mass of white, but that only gave him hope. For now that he could see that Chici cared about what happened to Sakura, it helped him to believe his plan would work.

Another clone disappeared, but Naruto was so close to his goal. A white line slid past him, only narrowly missing his neck. He wasn't done yet.

The fox was now cursing wildly at him, putting together sentences that didn't even make sense. But Naruto didn't care, he was deaf to any insult the fox made, and he couldn't even comprehend Chici if he tried. Nothing matter expect to wake Sakura.

His final clone disappeared when it tried to get through the mass of white to Sakura. Naruto saw this happen and quickly realized a flaw in his plan. It was impossible to even get close to Sakura!

**"Use my chakra! Now while you still can," **shouted the fox.

Naruto didn't see any other way he could do it. Maybe if he were smarted or if he had more chakra left he could pull it off, but, expect for the fox, nothing seemed to come to him. Naruto decided that he would have to use the fox's chakra, but he wouldn't use much of it, only enough to blast through to Sakura.

Naruto summoned the reserves of chakra the demon had given him, and released it in a blast from his mouth.

A hole appeared in the sea of white and hit Sakura straight on in the chest.


End file.
